One Harsh Truth That Will Make You A Better Writer

I know dozens of aspiring writers. They think of themselves as writers, they introduce themselves as writers at parties, they know that deep inside, they have the heart of a writer. The only thing they’re missing is that minor final step, where they actually fucking write things. David Wong

What is this writing thing, anyway and who said you could make a career out of it? Every time I get paid for stringing a bunch of words together I am mortified. I’ve been staring at this screen for a decade too long, overwhelmed by my incompetence after years of scholastic pursuit because I can’t seem to ACTUALLY EFFIN WRITE THINGS.

Amateurs wait for inspiration. Professionals sit down and get to work. Stephen King

The first draft of anything is shit. Ernest Hemingway

You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. Jack London

Nothing will work unless you do. Maya Angelou

There’s no formula. J.K. Rowling

*rolls up sleeves*

*sips coffee*

*……*

*Why do I want to write anyway???*

Because I cannot not write and I love novels and worlds and ancients and I want to create these places and live there. I want to be a cartoon and a time traveller and a ninja and a wolf pack. I want to explore the dark places and I want to uncover those feelings and I want my stories to be a catharsis and a joy and a pain and an unravelling (CAN’T STOP TYPING SEND HELP) I want to go home, go back to my childhood and then into outer space and into the future, have a pet dinosaur and run with hyenas, cure cancer and learn botany. I want people who have never gotten along to fight and then get along and then fight together against some bigger foe. I want to sing and dance and lie and cheat, and I want it to be me but not me but my characters who are me also. I want to explore every part of me which is a part of everyone too. I want to write because I want to live a thousand times over, and die a thousand times too. I write because I want to know who I am, who you are and I want us to connect.

*where am I*

Writing is hard. I get it. But if it’s what you love then you have no choice but to exorcise those demons on a regular basis. What I have figured out (and still figuring out every single day) is that the first draft is supposed to be trash. Vomit. A hippo’s ass. Don’t be afraid to write badly. Keep pumping the well. Priming the release. Losing your mind (as I clearly have). Because the harsh truth is the only way you will become a better writer is to write. So write.